Govt will act to address mining on titled land – Min. Trotman assures toshaos
DPI, Guyana, Wednesday, July 18, 2018
The Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) does not grant mining permits, permissions or blocks on lands identified as titled lands.
This was the assurance given to indigenous leaders by Acting Commissioner, Newell Dennison at the second day of National Toshaos Conference being held at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre.
Mining on titled lands was raised by several indigenous leaders during a session with Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman. The minister was accompanied by Dennison and Commissioner of the Guyana Forest Commission (GFC) James Singh.
“We are going to be treating these matters very, very seriously. We have to address them and the government is taking action,” Minister Trotman assured the toshaos.
Further assurances were also given by Dennison who stated that the GGMC will be investigating instances of mining on state land. “Where you have issues with existing permits in titled lands, the research has to be done to determine when those titled lands were made titles and when the blocks were issued.”
In this regard, Minister Trotman further committed personnel from the GGMC and Forestry Commission to address these complaints during the remainder of the conference.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and the National Toshaos’ Council are drafting a Memorandum of Understanding to improve their relationship, to better address concerns by indigenous people.
By: Tiffny Rhodius.